Month: January 2019

Cats

On By CarynIn Wildlife

Not really surprising that a cat will eat a chicken, or chicks given the opportunity. What is surprising is the number of outside cats that prowl the neighborhood. Our neighbors have a clowder of cats to keep the snake population down, especially the copperheads (yikes!). I’m all for those cats doing their job (although I think there is a speckled king snake on our side of the fence, and I hope he stays because he (or she) also keeps away the poisonous snakes), but it means that we have to plan on protecting the chicks and chickens both from stalking cats and slithering snakes. Here is a photo from the trail cam.

One of our neighborhood snake patrol agents. His name is Rusty.

Cute, but deadly! Hence “Chicken Fort Knox”. We are planning on putting 1/2″ welded wire along the bottom of the runs and skirting the coop to keep the smaller critters out, and 1″ welded wire along the upper sides and top. We will also bury welded wire mesh all along the outside of the coop and runs to deter digging.

We’ve had a gray calico adopt us as well, so we really want to make sure we protect the chickens and still be able to enjoy our outside felines.

Sophie, who decided to adopt us.

Siding!

On By CarynIn Uncategorized

We have siding up! Getting closer to closing in the coop, hurray! I’ve read many articles on not insulating coops for winter, so my husband put up asphalt paper first to keep moisture out. We will put hardware cloth along the top and make hinged covers so we can open up the top of the coop in the summer to help with ventilation, since the heat of our summers is more of a concern than the “cold” winter.

Bow Saw

On By CarynIn Tools

Today my favorite tool is the Fiskars 24″ bow saw.

I have been clearing paths in the back woods so we can have nature walks. Last summer I finished the large loop and started on an inner loop, but had two downed trees across the path I wanted to clear. My long handled pruners and my small pull saw were no match for those trunks. So I purchased a bow saw (about $10) and was able to saw through an 8″ log (which is as large as this saw can handle) in about 6 minutes. Not speedy, no, but the location of the log made me hesitant to pull out the chain saw, and it was great exercise!

So now part of the inner loop is no longer a dead end! Hurray!

I am also becoming obsessed with land art so am encouraging the trees to grow in a couple arches over the path. We’ll see how they do.

Here is the first land art installation in the yard. I keep adding sticks as I pass by because art is a living thing. 😉

When life hands you rocks…

On By CarynIn Garden

So today I started clearing the area where I want to put my garden. It is in the middle of the Chicken Fort Knox rotating runs. (I have three runs, one of which will be the garden, and I plan to rotate which areas the chickens have access to so they don’t completely clear out the runs, and have some enrichment activities when a new run is opened. Or go hog wild when I let them turn over my garden. Hehe.) I started with the hoe, chopping out the weeds and grass. This is great exercise, let me tell you what. Suddenly I feel a “clunk.”

I had hit a rock. No biggie. Turning over dirt in a place that has not been turned over before, that can be expected. I dug around the rock, lifted it up, and carried it over to the retaining wall I’m setting up by the side of the house.

Clunk. This time it was a brick. Easy. Bricks are easy to dig out.

Clunk. Are you kidding me? Clunk, clunk, clunk. How big is this thing? This is how big:

rock in the garden
Rock in the garden

Ok, so it is hard to tell from that picture. How about this one?

wheelbarrow with large lump of concrete
leftover concrete “rock”

That in the wheelbarrow is leftover concrete that was dumped in the field, probably when the house was built. It is approximately 2 feet by 3 feet. I can’t estimate the weight, but it was fairly thin (2-3″?). But in the middle of my garden. Now we have a few large rocks on the property that are native stone. Picking up large stones is not realistic or safe, so I tip them up using levers, and then tip them into my handy-dandy-favorite-wheel-barrow-ever, and roll the thing where I need it to go. Still hard work, but not back breaking (literally). I have been slowing moving rocks and making a path by the side of the house. This is definitely not native stone, but the back was nice and flat, so I hauled it over to the side of the house and shored it up with some of the dug up bricks, and it is now a stepping stone.

So when life hands you rocks, make a path! (Or a retaining wall. That works too.)

When life hands you rocks, make a path.

Lopper

On By CarynIn Tools

Today my favorite tool is the Fiskars PowerGear Loppers.

We get many downed branches on the property, and these loppers go through branches better than any other lopper I have owned. These were a gift from my folks (after my Dad tried to use my old loppers!) The power gear really allows me to cut through 2 inch limbs. I can make fairly precision cuts, too, for my land art. 😉 Here is a picture of the first land art installation, along with one of my other favorite tools: the Rubbermaid wheelbarrow.